North Korea now making missile-ready nuclear weapons, U.S. analysts say up to 60 nuclear weapons

Time for talk is over. Something has got to be done! Don't know what, but, something!

North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded in a confidential assessment.

The analysis, completed last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency, comes on the heels of another intelligence assessment that sharply raises the official estimate for the total number of bombs in the communist country’s atomic arsenal. The United States calculated last month that up to 60 nuclear weapons are now controlled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Some independent experts think the number of bombs is much smaller.

The findings are likely to deepen concerns about an evolving North Korean military threat that appears to be advancing far more rapidly than many experts had predicted. U.S. officials concluded last month that Pyongyang is also outpacing expectations in its effort to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the American mainland.

President Trump, speaking Tuesday at an event at his golf course in Bedminster, N.J., said North Korea will face a devastating response if its threats continue.

“They will be met with the fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before,” he said.

Earlier Tuesday, North Korea described a new round of U.N. sanctions as an attempt “to strangle a nation” and warned that in response, “physical action will be taken mercilessly with the mobilization of all its national strength.”

Although more than a decade has passed since North Korea’s first nuclear detonation, many analysts thought it would be years before the country’s weapons scientists could design a compact warhead that could be delivered by missile to distant targets. But the new assessment, a summary document dated July 28, concludes that this critical milestone has been reached.

“The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles,” the assessment states, in an excerpt read to The Washington Post. Two U.S. officials familiar with the assessment verified its broad conclusions. It is not known whether the reclusive regime has successfully tested the smaller design, although North Korea officially claimed last year that it had done so.

The DIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

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North Korea said it is considering launching missiles in the vicinity of the U.S. territory of Guam after U.S. bombers -- along with Japanese and South Korean aircraft -- flew a mission over the Korean Peninsula on Monday. Photo courtesy the Pacific Air Force

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The North Korean military on Tuesday threatened a missile strike near the U.S. territory of Guam, saying a recent bomber flight based from the island "may provoke a dangerous conflict."

A spokesman from the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army told state-run Korean Central News Agency that the military is "now carefully examining the operational plan for making an developing fire at the areas around Guam with medium-to-long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12."

The statement came in the hours after a U.S. intelligence analysis determined North Korea has made a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a missile. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump warned North Korea not to make any more threats against the United States. In July, North Korea said it would "strike a merciless blow" at the United States if Washington ever attempted to remove Kim Jong Un from power.

"They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," Trump said from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. "[Kim] has been very threatening beyond a normal state and as I said they will be met with fire and fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before."

Guam is home to Anderson Air Force Base, from which two U.S. B-1B bombers deployed on a mission with the South Korean and Japanese air forces on Monday. The aircraft flew over Japanese airspace before passing over the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea's threat cited the mission, calling for a potential strike on "Anderson Air Force Base in which the U.S. strategic bombers, which get on the nerves of [North Korea] and threaten and blackmail it through their frequent visits to the sky above south Korea, are stationed and to send a serious warning signal to the U.S."

Earlier Tuesday, unnamed U.S. officials told The Washington Post and NBC News that the Defense Intelligence Agency completed the analysis in July.

"The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles," the assessment states, as read to The Post.

The report comes after North Korea launched an improved ballistic missile with intercontinental range in July, Pyongyang's second missile launch in less than a month.

Analysts believed North Korea was years from miniaturizing a nuclear warhead, a technically demanding feat. It's unclear whether North Korea has successfully tested the new design, though last year Kim Jong Un's regime declared it had.

On Tuesday, North Korea said it would take "physical action" in reaction to new U.N. sanctions.

"Packs of wolves are coming in attack to strangle a nation," a statement from Pyongyang carried by KCNA said. "They should be mindful that [North Korea's] strategic steps accompanied by physical action will be taken mercilessly with the mobilization of all its national strength."

Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., said the news Tuesday "increases the urgency of the time sensitivity" of U.S. efforts to address North Korea's nuclear threat.

"Assuming everything is true, including that intelligence assessment both existing and everything being accurate, there are still important unknowns," he told CNN.

Earlier Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Southeast Asian countries to isolate North Korea both economically and diplomatically

It is interesting that NK threatens Guam while China is building islands in the South China Sea to extend its power in the region. If NK did hit Guam, who would benefit? Who controls 90% of NK trade? Hmmmm.....

The way I see this, we have 2 loose cannons, both play chess. Millions of lives are at risk being annihilated. Trump is being tested by the leftists. They taunt him and poke his ego. They are not satisfied with all the unsolved Russian scenarios, they cannot find much. So they are trying with a new game, trying to get him going with another problem: North Korea.

Hopefully Trump is surrounded with advisors that have a clear understanding of what could happen.

I would like to see that little fat NK pig roasted once and for all. But at what cost?

Just thank you all you previous Presidents, Bush, Clinton and Obama, for enabling the rise of this little fat NK fanatic, for letting him evolve as a nuclear threat. Blood is on your hands.